Political asylum for Pakistani youth

Mohammed Sarfaraz Hussain is no stranger to adversity. He came to the United States when he was eight-years-old to visit his dying mother. While he was in the U.S. his father died in Pakistan, and now for the past three years Homeland Security has been trying to deport him back to Pakistan.
&#8220I’ve seen so much in my life, that little things don’t stress me out,” Hussain said. &#8220There are always people in worse situations. Little kids in Africa go days without eating. I am not in that situation.”
Hussain, 21, first came to New York, with a visitor’s visa, to visit his mother who was suffering from colon cancer. When his mother died in August of 1993, he continued to stay in the home of his uncle in Holliswood, Queens, after his visa had expired. &#8220I was too young,” he said. &#8220I didn’t know anything about that.”
In February of 2003, Homeland Security began deportation proceedings for Hussain after he complied with a special registration program for non-citizens from Arab and Muslim countries created after September 11.
In the midst of his studies at Jamaica High School, Hussain was forced to acquire an attorney to fight his case. He said that he cannot see himself going back to Pakistan. &#8220My roots are pretty much here now,” Hussain said. &#8220I’ve mingled with all types. I’ve adapted to this culture and grown to love it here.”
Hussain said that he has no family in Pakistan. He said that he does not speak Urdu, his country’s language, fluently. &#8220My Urdu is on the level of an eight-year-old,” he said. &#8220I cannot speak or write it.”
In 2003, Congressman Gary Ackerman read about Hussain’s plight in The New York Times and decided to try to intervene. Ackerman was able to get the Immigration Department to grant Hussain deferred action status, which allowed him to stay for a two-year period. Deferred action cases renew every two years and the government refused to renew his status in 2005, again threatening to depo rt him.
As of September 22, Hussain has been granted political asylum. He said that he and his lawyer decided on him seeking political asylum because it has a &#8220stronger status and isn’t as shaky.” With political asylum, Hussain said, after one year he can get his green card, and after five years he is eligible to become a citizen.
Although Hussain was granted political asylum, the Department of Homeland Security can always appeal the decision. In efforts to defer this, Ackerman has written a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urging him to personally intervene and suspend indefinitely all efforts to deport Hussain.
Besides Ackerman’s help, Hussain said that he owes a great deal to his basketball coaches and his friends because they have always been behind him. &#8220They are my backbone,” he said. Hussain said that he also greatly appreciates his attorney, who stuck with him through it all, and Judge Patricia A. Rohan, who was compelled by his story and granted him political asylum.
Hussain said that he would very much like to become a U.S. citizen. He said that the American culture has been ingrained in him. &#8220I’m going to teach my children the morals and values that are implanted in me that I’ve learned over the years of living here.”